The Magic beat the Stars in Hamilton. Photo: Photosport / Andrew Cornaga
The Magic kept their ANZ Premiership season alive in emphatic fashion after beating the Stars 72-51 in a must-win game in Hamilton on Monday.
Coming into the game, the Magic had the worst attacking record of all the teams but Silver Ferns shooter Ameliaranne Ekenasio and Saviour Tui enjoyed their best outing by far.
Searching for their first win of the season, the Magic led 17-14 after the first quarter thanks to slick work in feeding the ball into their shooting end.
At half time the Magic led 33-25 over the Stars.
The Stars came out strong in the second half and forced the Magic into a team time-out when they got within two goals.
But the Magic finished strongly and led by seven going into the final spell.
Magic shooter Saviour Tui was a stand-out with 56 goals.
Magic defender Georgia Tong said letting go of the pressure they put on themselves worked in their favour last night.
"That's what we were doing to ourselves at the beginning of the season, the fact that it is a short season and that we were a team that had been together for a while we felt that we had all this pressure on us so I think we finally let go of that pressure and we were able to play freely," Tong said.
The Tactix sit at the top of the ladder after four rounds, just ahead of the Pulse.
Can Mystics survive loss of shooter?
Donnell Wallam Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
Australian import shooter Donnell Wallam could be out for a few weeks with a wrist injury according to Mystics assistant coach Rob Wright.
Wallam, who injured her wrist in round three, will know more after seeing a specialist this week but the Mystics will be keen to get their strike shooter back as soon as possible.
The Mystics missed her when they lost to the Tactix 61-50 in Rangiora on Saturday.
Last year former Mystics shooter Grace Nweke was out of action for a few weeks after injuring her knee.
Without her, the Mystics dropped down the ladder but managed to hold on to the crucial third spot to get into the elimination final and Nweke returned for the business end of the competition, which they went on to win.
Mystics captain Michaela Sokolich-Beatson said they were no strangers to having to adapt to losing a key player.
"It does give us confidence, we have been here before, we make sure that we train all our combinations every time we train so it's nothing new for us," said Sokolich-Beatson.
But with the season cut from three rounds to two, it will be a race against time to get Wallam back on court.
Wing attack Peta Toeava played goal attack again for a few minutes of the final quarter on the weekend.
Sophia Lafaiali'i got her ANZ Premiership debut, playing 17 minutes at goal shoot for the Mystics and at over six foot provided a nice target.
Who's standing out?
Georgie Edgecombe (right) Photo: Photosport
Magic midcourter Georgie Edgecombe has been the most consistent performer in a team that only started hitting its straps last night.
The 24-year-old has shown explosiveness off the mark and an ability to cover a lot of ground to win ball for her side at wing defence.
The Pulse circle defence pairing of Kelly Jackson and Parris Mason are again proving to be the best in the competition as they make life difficult for shooters.
That was highlighted big time when they beat the Southern Steel 70-45 in Invercargill on Sunday and restricted Aliyah Dunn to just 24 goals.
Pulse player Amelia Walmsley is consolidating herself as a strong high volume goal shooter, and converted 50 goals from 51 attempts on the weekend - her second half-century of the season.
After four rounds, Walmsley is the top goal scorer of the competition and her accuracy is superb at 95 percent.
Tactix shooter Ellie Bird seems to have picked up where she left off last year, and is putting up high volumes when she's on court.
The Tactix defensive duo of Karin Burger and Jane Watson were a little quiet by their standards at the start of the season but the pair have improved, with Burger in particular starting to win a lot of ball.
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